ENGM2032, Applied Probability and Statistics Fall 2023

Assignment #8
Due: Saturday, Nov 25, 2023

1) The performance of a yogurt dispenser is investigated. The target amount for which the
dispenser is calibrated is 50 ml. However, 25 measurements of the actual amount dispensed
produced the sample mean of 49.2 ml. It is also known that the manufacturer of the dispenser
reports that the standard deviation of the amount dispensed is 0.5 ml for this particular model.
a) Construct a 90% confidence interval on the mean amount dispensed.
b) Construct a 99% confidence interval on the mean amount dispensed.
c) What conclusion would you make regarding the performance of the dispenser based on the
results of parts a) and b)?
d) How many measurements would you have to collect in order to estimate the mean amount
dispensed to within 0.1 ml with 95% confidence? What about 0.01 ml? Would the latter
be practical?
e) How would the result of part a) change if the true standard deviation was unknown and all
the information you had was the sample mean and sample standard deviation, 49.2 ml and
0.5 ml, respectively?
2) Six measurements of the maximum displacement of the walls a fuel tank subjected to an intense
external dynamic loading are, in mm,
4.7, 3.9, 5.8, 6.2, 4.7, 6.1.
It is assumed that the displacement is at least approximately normally distributed.
a) Construct a 95% confidence interval on the mean maximum displacement.
b) Construct a 95% confidence interval on the variance of the maximum displacement.
c) The mean maximum displacement is greater than what value with 95% probability? Note
that this is not the same as the lower confidence bound in a). Here we are deling with a
one-sided confidence interval.
3) Company A has recently made a number of improvements to the technology it is using to
manufacture CD burners. As a result, the company claims that its CD burners are more
efficient than those produced by its competitor, company B. To verify this claim, an independent
research company conducts a series of comprehensive tests. 1000 CD burners manufactured
by company A are tested against 1000 burners manufactured by company B, and the time
necessary to burn a test file is recorded. The sample mean and sample standard deviation of
the burning time for company A were determined to be 10.04 and 0.987 seconds, respectively,
while the same parameters for company B were 8.972 and 1.032 seconds, respectively.
a) Is it reasonable to assume that the true standard deviations are known, at least approxi-
mately? Why or why not?
b) Construct a 95% confidence interval on the mean burning time for company A’s burners.
c) Construct a 95% confidence interval on the mean burning time for company B’s burners.
d) By constructing a 95% confidence interval on the difference between the means, would
you say that company A’s claim is reasonable?
ENGM2032, Applied Probability and Statistics Assignment #8 Fall 2023: pg 2

4) A company manufacturing solar panels wishes to test two new prototypes, A and B. The
panels are installed at 12 sites across North America, and the average hourly energy outputs
are measured for both prototypes. The results of the measurements are summarized in the
following table,

Site 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Prototype A 144.2 113.7 129.1 126.9 129.3 108.7 104.4 125.4 121.2 130.9 111.4 123.1
Prototype B 106.6 111.8 110.3 101.3 108.5 112.2 101.9 111.5 107.2 107.7 108.9 105.8
a) Can these two samples be treated as independent? Why or why not?
b) Construct a 95% confidence interval on the difference between the energy outputs.
c) Based on the result of part b), is there an indication that one prototype is better than the
other? If yes, which one?